Adrien with the ass that won't quit
by unforgetabELLE
Summary: I hate to see you leave but love to watch you walk away The lyrics rose from the depths of Marinette's brain as she watched Adrien walk by. Then she was singing them out loud. Adrien froze in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at her. Her brain had just enough time to admire what a striking pose it was before looking away and pretending she hadn't just serenaded his ass...


" _I hate to see you leave but love to watch you walk away"_

The lyrics rose from the depths of Marinette's brain as she watched Adrien walk by, and before she knew it, she was singing them out loud. Adrien froze in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at her. Her brain had just enough time to admire what a striking pose it was before she forced her eyes away from him, trying to hide her blush and pretend she hadn't just serenaded his ass.

Thankfully, he continued on his way and she breathed a sigh of relief. She thought she would be over this by now. She'd barely seen him all summer, and the collagé in her room even came down in her determination to act like a sane human being and not a deranged stalker. Apparently though, her resolve was no match for Adrien with the ass that won't quit.

But she'd have to get over it. Not only was pining after someone she could barely even talk to ridiculous, but the summer had...other developments and they involved a very different blond with green eyes...She paused, pondering their similarities and looked towards Adrien's retreating form. They both had great butts, too…

Huh. Guess she had a type.

Taking a deep breath, she got up from her spot on the bench and started to walk home. She'd lingered outside school a little too long already and the sky was starting to darken. _Maybe a storm?_ She looked up and held out a hand as if waiting for the sky to suddenly open up. She really should get in the habit of checking the weather, but at least she was prepared. Marinette dashed back into school quickly, grabbing an umbrella from her locker.

No. Not _an_ umbrella. _The_ umbrella. She practically blushed just touching the handle. _I really needed to get a grip,_ she mentally chastised herself for the thousandth time _._

Once back outside, she started her trek home, choosing a circuitous route despite the potential downpour. She'd been walking this route a lot lately. It circled north around the park and was about ten blocks out of her way, but it took her past _the spot_. _The bridge_. The place where she always seemed to run into him. She found herself deliberately walking that way day after day hoping that he'd somehow be there. It was the bridge where they battled Evillustrator, and the bridge where months later, Marinette ran into Chat again and it suddenly all made sense.

Well, not suddenly…

 _It was around midnight when they finished patrol and Ladybug was hurrying towards her house over the deserted streets of the residential neighborhood. They'd had a minor situation that required her lucky charm, and the succession of beeps warned her that her time was just about up. She swung to the ground just as the last sounded and her transformation wore off, still blocks from her house. She sighed, catching Tikki in her palms._

" _Well, it's as nice a night as any for a stroll," she smiled at her exhausted kwami, and tucked her into her purse alongside the stash of cookies. Lifting her head, she started down the street._

 _She'd only gone about two blocks when she found the bridge. When she found Chat. He'd been rightfully shocked to see her. It was midnight on a weekday, after all, and he of course didn't realize that she'd just left him after patrol. She was shocked too, though, but by his demeanor. Despite having just spent the better part of the last hour with him, she was only now noticing that he seemed fidgety...more hyperactive than usual, even for him._

 _Was she really so insensitive to her partner's moods that she hadn't noticed something was wrong or had he been hiding it from her? Both options bothered her for separate reasons. She walked towards him, determined to be there for him as Marinette if he couldn't talk to Ladybug._

 _His look of surprise morphed into a smile as she neared._

" _Kitt-Chat Noir?" She caught herself quickly. "What are you doing here?"_

" _I'm a superhero," he answered, not missing a beat. "I prowl the streets at night for bad guys. The better question, is what are you doing here, Princess?" He hopped down off the railing he was standing on and leaned against his baton. He was aiming for his typical flirty grin, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. His tail twitched in agitation behind him, and she knew something was up._

" _Oh, the same," she shrugged and he laughed, thinking it was a joke. "What's up with you though? You okay?"_

 _She looked at him seriously and he dropped his metaphorical mask, instead smiling sadly at her._

" _Oh you know, just some typical teenage angst. Nothing to worry about," he shrugged at her._

 _She narrowed her eyes at him, and slid down to a sit against the railing. Patting the spot next to her she said, "Let me decide what I get to worry about. Fate brought me to_ our bridge _for a reason, Chat."_

" _Our bridge?" he questioned with a smirk and took a few steps closer to her._

" _Yes, the bridge where I saved your butt fighting Evillustrator."_

" _Oh, you saved me, huh?"_

" _You remember it differently? Interesting. Let's discuss," she patted the spot on the ground next to her again._

 _He'd chuckled at her, but sat, and it eventually all came spilling out._

 _He told Marinette about his distant father, his struggles making friends in school, the way he felt like his civilian self wore more of a mask than Chat Noir... everything. And she sat, barely saying a word and just listening to him. She felt like she found out more about her partner in an hour of talking to him as Marinette than she had in an entire year of knowing him as Ladybug. Here was this vibrant and dynamic boy by her side all this time, but she had let her insistence on anonymity get in the way of really seeing him. She'd never make that mistake again._

 _When a few hours later she couldn't stifle her yawn, he just smiled sleepily at her and insisted on escorting her home. She rolled her eyes, but allowed it._

 _He dropped her on her balcony and they just stared at each other in silence for a minute, both reluctant for the night to end._

" _Thank you," he whispered finally._

 _Before she could respond, he leaned in, kissed her cheek, and was off again, fading into the blackness of the night and taking her heart with him._

It'd become a tradition of sorts since then. They would just happen to run into each other on that bridge. Whether Chat deliberately took that path hoping to see her just like she did was a mystery, but Marinette still hoped.

He hadn't kissed her again, but it didn't matter. Marinette was head over heels for that cat. And while he still flirted with her as Ladybug, there was more teasing in his voice and less intention behind his words recently. It deepened her hope that maybe he'd fallen for the girl as much as he'd claimed to have fallen for the hero.

What remained of sun had been almost completely obscured by the encroaching storm clouds by the time she found him, sitting on the rail of the deserted bridge and perhaps hoping to find her too. She was about ten meters away when he caught sight of her, his face lighting up and shining the way the sun currently couldn't

" _Purr_ -incess," he hopped down off the railing, and gave her an elaborate bow. She rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Kitty." She clasped her hands behind her back and walked more slowly towards him. "Just out for a brief stroll in the impending storm?" She gave him a knowing look and he smirked.

"Oh, you know me. This cat isn't afraid of a little rain." He winked at her. "I'm a superhero. I can handle it. You on the other hand…" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Ah, ah, ah! I come prepared," she smiled back, holding up her umbrella triumphantly, and Chat's grin fell. He reached forward, and she instinctively pulled it out of his grasp.

She smiled in what she hoped was a teasing way, but internally she was berating herself. Why did she do that? It was just an umbrella. It was _the_ umbrella, but it was still just an umbrella. She'd thought she'd gotten over her thing for Adrien, admitted that while he was unreasonably attractive, that was it. She had Chat and she and Adrien were just friends…

Then why was she still so attached to this umbrella?

Chat was watching her with a peculiar expression. He most likely thought she was some umbrella hoarder now. Great. Not that the truth was much better: that she was unnaturally attached to an umbrella given to her by a boy she was barely friends with because she only recently unlocked the ability to form complete sentences around him.

He smiled then and took a step closer.

"A special umbrella, huh?"

"Something like that," she murmured, rolling her eyes at herself.

"May I?" He reached out his hand and she handed it to him this time. He held it delicately, flipping up one of the sides and running the tag between his fingers.

"Agreste, Inc." he murmured. " Friend of yours?" His voice was monotone, but his eyes were teasing.

"Yes, actually," she placed her hand on her hip, narrowing her eyes playfully as he scrutinized her _special_ umbrella.

"A _close_ friend?"

"I-I think so," she answered truthfully, but then saw a glint in his eye and realized what he was really trying to ask.

"Why, Kitty?" she glanced over at him as she slowly walked around him to lean against the railing at his other side. "Are you jealous?"

"Of Adrien? Of course not," he laughed outright at the idea and a jolt went through Marinette. They were joking, but there was a little too much derision in his laugh for her taste.

"You don't have to say it like that," she turned to lean on the rail facing the water, not wanting to meet his eyes at that moment.

"Princess?"

"He's a good person, Chat. I know he's famous and his picture is everywhere, so maybe that makes you think he's just some obnoxious rich kid, but he's not. All joking aside, he is my friend and he's a good person, not someone to brush off as inconsequential."

She turned and looked at him then, seeing the impact of her words, but Chat didn't look abashed. He looked...grateful? Maybe even touched?

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," he murmured, but moved to lean against the railing next to her, his arm melding against hers. She sighed, leaning into him.

"I really like you Chat, but _nobody_ gets to bad-mouth my friends. No one."

"I know," he answered, his voice thick with some unnamed emotion. "I love that about you."

They stood in silence for a moment before she saw him peek over at her.

"So," he began. "You _really_ like me, huh?"

"I'd say I regret that, but you just said you _loved_ me, so I think I'm in the clear," she smirked over at him, but he just gave her a small smile.

"I'd never regret telling you that."

Her breath caught at his response, said so quietly she doubted he'd actually intended for her to hear. Before she could respond though, he'd moved on.

"So, what do you _really_ like?" His joking demeanor took over as he stepped backwards and struck a sequence of poses.

 _Thinking man. Flexing muscles. Nonchalant lean. Singing in the rain, umbrella and all._

"Definitely your seriousness," she responded sarcastically and he grinned.

"Come on now! Is is my dazzling eyes? My intoxicating personality? My perky butt?"

She laughed out loud at that last one, but Chat had a mischievous glint in his eye.

"What?" He turned his back to her and began backing it up in her direction as tears started to run down her cheeks from laughing so hard.

"You don't want this?" he smirked over his shoulder and wiggled his butt a little more. "This ass has been known to inspire impromptu song!"

She went silent at this comment. Her eyes darted from Chat's face to his butt, ping-ponging back and forth as her brain started to make some connection. She took a step back as Chat turned, his wide-eyed expression only confirming his slip-up to her. Then his face changed from shock and became tender.

"You-you're-" She lifted a hand to cover her mouth, trying to put together the words in her mind but it all just rushed out instead. "I know that butt!"

Her face darkened to a deep shade of burgundy that shouldn't be humanly possible, but somehow she managed.

"God, Mari. My eyes are up here," he pointed to his face and her eyes met his. It didn't do much to restore her peace of mind. It was possibly even worse. How had she never noticed that Chat's emerald eyes were exactly the same verdant green as Adrien's?

"Adrien?" she gasped and was rewarded with his effervescent smile.

"I guess the Chat's out of the bag." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture as familiar to her as his eyes. And, apparently, as familiar as his butt.

"You're my Chat Noir?"

" _Your_ Chat Noir?" He looked at her quizzically, but she was smiling so widely she could barely answer.

She took a step forward just as the sky opened up and started to rain. He immediately opened the umbrella and hurried over to her. She reached up to cover his hand with hers just as lightning struck and thunder sounded in the near-distance.

" _My_ Chat Noir," she repeated fervently, calling her transformation and surrounding them in a flash of pink. He stared at her, dumbfounded, but she didn't wait for it to sink in. Grabbing his bell, she brought him down and kissed him...The way she'd dreamed of kissing Adrien...The way she should have kissed Chat long ago.

Thankfully, he didn't feel the need for further questions.

When they finally broke apart, he leaned his forehead against hers. The storm raged around them, but they were at peace; lost in the silence of their own world under _their_ special umbrella.

"Definitely your perky butt," she finally answered his question, laughing as he captured her lips again and claimed them as his own.


End file.
